This invention relates to a passenger conveyor, such as an escalator and an electrically-operated road (moving side-walk), moving in a horizontal or an inclined direction for carrying passengers, and also to a treadboard construction for use in such a passenger conveyor and, more particularly, to a passenger conveyor driven by a linear motor and treadboard construction for such a passenger conveyor.
Passenger conveyors of the aforementioned type in which treadboards are driven by a linear motor are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,731,166 and 4,738,346 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publications 62-100395 and 62-136489.
There is also known a technique, for example, from GB 2096966A, in which an endless flexible belt such as a moving handrail is driven by a linear motor.
In the above conventional technique for driving the treadboards by the linear motor, the dimensions of installation of the passenger conveyor have not been taken into consideration, and, therefore, a problem arises in that the passenger conveyor has an increased size. The purpose of the above conventional technique for driving an endless flexible belt, such as a moving handrail, by the linear motor is different from the purpose of the passenger conveyor of the type in which a number of treadboards are connected together in an endless manner, and the dimensions (particularly, the height) of installation of the passenger conveyor utilizing this technique have not been taken into consideration, as is the case with the first-mentioned prior art.